Murray hopes Djokovic falters at Aussie Open

Both at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 he was ousted in the semi-finals by the eventual champion in the form of Rafael Nadal and then Briton Andy Murray. “It’d mean a lot because of how may times I’ve been close”.

Wawrinka is the Swiss who defeated Djokovic in the French Open finals in Roland Garros previous year, according to an article fromAustralian Open itself.

But the Spaniard is refusing to believe he can’t turn the tables on Djokovic and land a 15th grand slam title at Melbourne Park, which hasn’t exactly been the 29-year-old’s happiest of hunting grounds.

But the two-time Australian Open champion is showing signs of a renaissance, storming to her second Brisbane International crown last week – her first title since she beat Williams in Cincinnati in 2013 – and has even released a Rocky-style training montage announcing her comeback.

“My number one goal is to try and win here“.

Aussie v Aussie? If there’s an unfortunate flipside to the increased number of top-100 Australian players – five men and three women as of this week’s rankings – it’s that they are meeting more often in Grand Slam main draws.

World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been announced as top seeds for first major of the season, Australian Open, which starts from Monday.

The 28-year-old Serbian world number one has won 10 Grand Slam titles in his career, including five at the Australian Open and two at the US Open which are played on hard-court surfaces.

“It can inspire you – the marriage, playing the Olympics again this year, playing doubles with his brother – it could be a total inspiration”.

At last year’s US Open, Azarenka added a new word to the tennis lexicon – “pinish”, a combination of “punish” and “finish”.

The tournaments were Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. “If I’m serving well and playing the right game style, I think I’ve got a good chance”.

Nadal has won once in Australia, over Federer in a classic five-set final in 2009, and has had some of his career low points with tournament-ending injuries in Melbourne.

World number nine Lucie Safarova is skipping the Australian Open because of health problems linked to a bacterial infection, while Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, ranked at eight, retired from the sport after her win at last year’s US Open.